Modern Vespa

Well... I'd like to know how everyone's Heideneaus performed over the winter. Particularly, in the wet season of Southern California.

Let's hear those wet performance reviews to complete this thread.


As a side question... do the K61s contribute to or reduce "the wobble"?

I had the K61's put on my Fly. After about 50 miles all I can say is WOW! Ya know how they like to resurface the streets
1 1/2 lanes at a time leaving that bump parallel the direction of travel? My "Originalli-tires" used to dance on those ridges or cracks like Enrico at the Samba competition. That dance competition is now OVER! My bike seems to lean easier but bounce back up more readily. I do have to apply more pressure when counter steering though. I would defiantly recommend them !

Reduced mine by quite a bit. Now I think most of the wobble I rode with for about 6-8k (the life of my front tire) had to do with the tires. Not all, of course; GTS wobble is the real thing. I can still feel it if I go light with both hands, but it is down by 90-95% and I can definitely go one-handed here and there when I feeling casual.

I've got 2,000 miles on my K-61s and they look like new. I've ridden in the rain a few times and they felt great. There is no better improvement you can make to a Vespa than dumping Savas and mounting Heidenaus.

Still loving the K61s more and more everyday. I felt safer on them in the rain then I did w/ the Savas (which I know isn't saying much). Next time I replace my front tire, which probably won't be for awhile, I'll get one w/o the center groove. That center groove seems to play funny on some of the rain grooves, pretty much just on the S curve on I-5 in San Diego. Haven't noticed much of a difference w/ the wobble and like I said I don't see a problem w/ most of the rain grooves aside from downtown.

Do they have a front tire w/o a center groove?

My Savas go nuts on the rain grooves on I-15 (my commute to work).

I believe the 130/70 has no center groove. I have a 120/70 up front and a 140/70 in the rear (no center groove on the rear).

The K61 with the center groove picks up the rain grooves a bit, but not nearly the same way as the Savas do. I found that Michelin Pilots (the ones that come stock on the MP3) virtually ignore the grooving. All in all, I like the k61s as they are the happy medium between those to extremes with the best overall feel for all other riding conditions.

Like everyone else on this post I have put Heidenau's on recently (LX150). I still haven't seen any posts of when they need replacing? I have never gotten more than 2400 miles on the 3 previous tires. 2 Pirelli's - 1 Michellin Pilot City. So far I have 700 miles on my K61.

My rear K61 is down to the wear bars after about 3,100 miles. I had it over-inflated for a while, but just throwin' it out there that these things are definitely not indestructible. Most of my miles are high-speed, though.

How much can I love a tire? If they last long enough, I'll never put anything else on my LX. I now have about 1200 miles on mine.

Acceleration and handling were the best I'd ever experienced. I rode the K61s from LA to Amerivespa. Our route up included a lot of twisties and tight corners. The K61s were tangibly better than my previous Pirellis and Michelin Pilot Citys for this type of riding.



They really shined, however, on the freeway. We did the 101 for much of our return trip. Previously, I'd felt very unstable at freeway speeds and hesitant to change lanes, swerve or maneuver at all. Not so on the K61s. Very stable ride and handling at high speeds was tops! I was passing trucks at over 70mph (actual), had no issues with stability or handling at even higher speeds.

The caveat is that my LX is kitted and relatively fast. I was keeping up with much larger scooters without much effort. Unless you do a lot of twisties or high speed riding, these may not be worth the expense. For normal, in the city riding, I like the K61s but they really deliver on the extremes. In general, GTSs go through rear tires faster than an LX. A top case also reduces rear tire lifespan, even if it's empty most of the time. I'm actually considering pulling my rear rack and case off.

If I can get 5500miles on the K61 rear tire, I'll be very happy. I may be happy with less, too.

By the time I took the tire off, it had about 4,000 miles on it. Definitely a good life span for a GTS rear tire, I think, but the handling was noticeably not as good by the end, so take those last 900 miles with a grain of salt.

Wow, didn't realize this post originated almost a year ago! Keep the feedback coming!

How do Heidenau compare to conti zippy's?

Huh! Funny I should get a notice for this topic. I happen to be getting a new rear k61/140 this morning.

Fun tires.

I thought I read on here that the K61's do NOT have a rain groove. My rear tire does have the groove down the center, but the installer insists that it is a K61. Can someone clear that up for me?

I hate the look of that rain groove and it seems like there is no tread pattern whatsoever except on the sides of the tires ... none running down the center.

I think every K61 except for the 140 has a rain groove. See this pic:

http://www.moto-amore.com/heidenau/k61.html

I was a little skeptical myself. All the tires I've ridden on have had more traditional tread patterns. I'd often look at sportbike tires and wonder how they got any traction at all from those surfaces-especially off a track. Also, I rarely ride in the rain.

All I can say is that if you feel like spending a little more on your next set of tires, try them out for a few thousand miles. I made the switch based purely on the many reports on MV and the fact that I was replacing both tires at the same time-which probably hasn't happened since I bought the scoot.

I did wind up needing air more than in past tires, but that may have also been due to the kind of riding we were doing (long stretches at sustained speeds of 50+). Now that I'm back to regular city riding, I'll keep track of pressure.

Currently sporting the lovely Pirelli Mandrakes at 110/80-14 rear, 80/80-16 front.
Seems that I cannot get a set of K61s for my scoot;^(

Any suggestions?

The Michelin Gold Standards seem to be one of my only (matching) options?

*Been following all the tire threads for some time...thanks all;^)

4500 miles on my K-61s and they look like new and stick like glue.

Mixed feelings on the Heidi's with about 4000 miles (6000 km) on...currently having the K61 120-130 combo on and thinkin about having K61 130-140.

Seriously thinking about Bridgestone ML-50 tyres to have just a little more comfort. Heidi's do wear looking at my back tyre

But front is still as new

Those of you that have the K61 130-140 combo, Have any of you changed back to the K61 120-130? If so, why?

The Heidenaus I just got have "K61" molded into the sidewall.
Your rear tire must not be a 140.
I think the only K61 without a center groove is the "K61 Rear 140/70-12".

Since getting my 61's my hair is growing back and my wife finds me adorable again.

And the ride is much better too.

Are you confusing tires with little blue pills?

Yea, I would be interested in knowing the difference too. My GTS came with brand new Zippy's (many thanks Baudler) and I really like them. Don't know where the H 61 would be that much of an improvement (Majority of the reviews seem to be comparing the H61 to Sava - definitely sounds like everyone thinks they suck.
My ET4 came with Pirelli's and have never switched brands.

No but I think she needs glasses.

I've got a K61 130 on the rear (120 up front too) and it is just wearing down to the bottom of the groove so about time for me to order a new one. Figured you guys might be interested in my wear & use report over 2yrs & ~4,500miles.

Only had stock Savas to compare which wore quite oddly and quickly. The K61s are better in all conditions, dry or wet - living in Miami I've driven through too many serious rain storms and while I don't think the K61s are fantastic they don't seem to be terrible either. In the dry they offer a crisper handling feel when properly inflated vs Savas. I have to ride across metal grate bridges quite often and they do feel better than the Savas there too. I do wonder if going with a different rear w/o the center sipe would be even better. I've noticed when I have a passenger the wandering dissappears completely so go figure.

For those concerned about tread pattern & traction - in the dry the ideal pattern is none. Tread patterns exist solely to move water.


My rear is ready for replacement and I'm just going to go with another K61, I might try the 140 this time though.

I love my K61 140. Makes the scooter more stable at highway speeds and is smoother and stickier than the 130 Pirelli I had...

This. I still have em and ride across the Bay Bridge daily. When dry, they're great. When it's wet, I don't they're fantastic. There were times when I exited in the rain and they slipped a bit.

I really wish Michelin made their Pilot Road 2 for scooters. I have these on my Ducati and these have great tread life and awesome grip. I can take the same exit when wet without any puckering.

In the rain my 120/140 Heide's are just meh.... In the dry they are confidence inspiring. I just rolled 2000 miles on this set and the front looks brand new, the rear has about 50% left. Much better tyres than the Pirelli's that came stock. Fwiw, I try to keep pressure at 30 front / 34 rear.

I have the same set-up and I agree completely. In wet conditions, they're mediocre, but on dry roads, phenomenal.

I'll add my report as well. My previous tires were Savas. I didn't find them that bad (I just felt that needed to be said) but the Heidenaus are definitely better.

Here are my notes:

Both front & rear tires were replaced on 9/16/2010 @ 7,200 miles (this was rounded to the nearest hundreds). Installation done by Vespa Motorsports. 130's on the front and 140's on the rear.

As of today, 01/05/2012, the odometer reads 12,293 miles exactly. This works out to be about 5,772 mils so far.

Front tire: looks very good! Can last maybe another 5,800 miles.

Rear tire: starting to show some wear. At the tread bars and flattening out just a little but still very grippy. I bet that I can get another 1,000 - 2,000 miles on this and still feel fine about it. I'll probably end up replacing in 1,000 miles though just to be safe.

Riding style: I ride about 60% highway at speeds between 70-83 mph (indicated), about 30% back road twisties and 10% around the city. Not too aggressive off the line but definitely spirited.

Parting thoughts: Excellent wear for a rear scooter tire! I would definitely replace them with the same. I can highly recommend them since it appears that scooters each through tires like nothing.